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“No,” Ella said. “I remembered the Book of Job from South Park.”
Ripley’s laugh started off as a chuckle then grew into a robust cackle. “Brilliant. I love it. You had me fooled at least.”
“Who says TV isn’t educational?”
Ripley tapped her partner’s leg again. “By the way, do you want to know his name?”
“Whose?”
“The killer’s.”
The thought hadn’t even crossed her mind. To her, he was just a run-of-the-mill psychopath, as deluded as a million other people out there. She couldn’t deny his motive was uniquely fascinating, but that was where her curiosity started and ended.
“No, thank you,” Ella said. “I’m good.”
“That’s the right answer.”
The overhead voice told them it was time to begin boarding. Home beckoned. Ella grabbed her things, tapped her pockets to double-check her essentials were in their right places. Her phone buzzed once more. She gave in, if only to tell the texter she was out of bounds for the next twenty-four hours.
But then Ella had a sudden change of heart, because Ben’s name flashed up on the screen.
***
Ella stood outside her ex-boyfriend’s apartment, weighing up the pros and cons of what she was about to do. It was early evening and the aftereffects of her showdown with were beginning to take their toll. Her back stung with a thousand pinpricks and the wound in her leg was beginning to throb like a war drum. But more concerning was that she was about to glimpse her ex in the flesh, letting back in all those emotions she was trying to keep at bay.
His text had said:Come to mine tonight?Disconcertingly vague. If nothing else, it might give her a chance to apologize in the flesh. If that was all she got out of this, so be it.
Ella knocked on the door. A weak knock, far from her usual knuckle-rapping. Ben answered instantly. A hearty, determined yank, like the door of an aircraft tearing off mid-flight. A red-eyed Ben stood in the dim hallway, his static composure betraying nothing of his intentions. He wore black shorts, no shoes and a figure-hugging t-shirt that accentuated the things most women would like about him. Ella didn’t care about that. They were just bonuses.
A slight head movement summoned her inside. She felt like a leaf, caught in the cyclone of her own emotions, whirling around, and changing direction with the slightest breeze. She thought she’d let him go, but his presence tingled every sense she had. Even six feet away, she could feel him. She heard the sound of his heart, matching the same rhythm as hers. And that sweet vanilla scent that she was powerless to resist called her forward.
“Come here,” he said.
Ella obliged. She walked into Ben’s waiting arms. He wrapped them around her tightly, then planted a soft kiss on her lips. If history had taught her anything, it was that her ability to sense innocence was greater than her ability to sense guilt. She felt it now. An overbearing aura of innocence that she’d been foolish to dispute.
“I want to make this work, but I can’t do it if you think I’m someone I’m not.”
She placed a gentle hand on his chest. It felt good to touch him again, to be so close to the only man she felt safe with. “I know who you are. I’m an idiot for doubting you. I’m sorry.”
“I was a different person when I was younger. I was the last person to see her alive, I admit that. Did I kill her? Hell no.”
“I believe you. I have no reason not to.”
“No, I’m going to talk you through everything. I forgive you, and I want you to know I’m innocent.”
Ella welcomed his persistence but she was over it. She’d let the darkness do the talking and she was leaving that in the past. “What made you change your mind?” she asked.
“The other night. It was about one in the morning. I saw you typing a message to me, then nothing came through. I knew you were thinking of me.”
Ella laughed, feeling a little foolish. She remembered it well. Her first night in the motel in West Virginia. “God, I was hoping that you wouldn’t see that.”
“Unlucky,” Ben said as he brushed the hair off her face, “but I’m going to do it. I’ll talk you through everything. I know mysteries itch that stupid brain of yours.”
“I trust you. You’ve never lied to me before. Except when you broke the lamp next to my bed, remember that?”
Ben laughed, his eyes welling up at the memory. “Umm, that was a joint effort, Miss Dark.”
Ella lightly smacked him on the shoulder, a little flustered, even in present company. “True.”
